


Be Forever Yorozuya - HijiGin

by orphan_account



Series: Tumblr Prompts [2]
Category: Gintama
Genre: Gintama: Yorozuya yo Eien Nare | Be Forever Yorozuya, M/M, One Shot, Sorry Not Sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-27
Updated: 2015-09-27
Packaged: 2018-04-23 17:40:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4885801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time Gintoki "dies," Hijikata doesn't believe that he's gone. After all, there had been no body, so he holds on to the small hope that Gintoki is still out there, somewhere. The second time, there's a body, and he's the one who finds it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Be Forever Yorozuya - HijiGin

_“They say that time heals all wounds.”_

* * *

 Hijikata cursed and ground his cigarette under his foot, turning to head back to the Shinsengumi barracks after another day of powerlessness, another day of being unable to do anything. Their leader was locked away, his execution day drawing nearer, and there was nothing they could do. The Yorozuya had fallen apart, everyone was dying because of the White Plague, and they never knew who might be next. In other words, the world was shit right now.

What made it worse, though, was that  _he_  still hadn’t come back.

It had been five years since he had disappeared. No one knew where he had gone and no one had found a body, but they had built a grave anyway and mourned his passing.

There was no way Hijikata would mourn.

After all, there was no way that stupid idiot could be dead. He was that one person who couldn’t die, who  _wouldn’t_  die until he had annoyed the hell out of everyone in Edo, and as far as Hijikata knew, he still hadn’t really accomplished that just yet.

During the first year, everyone had been searching desperately for any sign of that perm-head. They were all hoping that he hadn’t fallen to the new disease floating around, that he hadn’t just up and died when everyone still wanted him around, still  _needed_ him to be alive.

During the second year, most had lost faith and were beginning to think that he was dead. The notebook Kagura had gotten from the owner of that supermarket wasn’t helping much either. It only solidified the belief that yes, that stupid perm-head was dead, and there was no way they could ever see him again.

During the third year, it was only him and the two Yorozuya brats, searching desperately and hoping that he  _wasn’t_  dead and that he hadn’t died such a stupid death. 

By the fourth year, he was alone.

Everyone had given up. He still remembered the day China and Glasses had finally broken, had finally lost all hope with tears streaming down their faces as if it had happened yesterday. They’d finally accepted the fact that their leader, their father, their older brother, was dead, and there was nothing they could do about it except protect Kabuki-cho in his place.

He refused to accept it. There was no way Gintoki could just be… _gone,_ not before Hijikata could tell him how he felt, not before he could repay the huge debt he owed him. As much as he was loath to admit it, Gintoki had helped him in so many ways, and it  _had_  been a bit relieving to see that little shit almost everywhere he went. 

It had been  _very_  annoying though, especially when he’d had to catch that Joui patriot and had been forced to do it while handcuffed to the one person who annoyed him the most.

But, dammit all, he  _missed_  that little shit, and while he  _had_  been annoying, he had also been the one person Hijikata thought would just…be there forever. And as he stared up at the gray sky, the rain beginning to fall, there was really only one thing he wanted more than anything in the world.

He wanted to see that stupid smile one more time.

* * *

 Hijikata’s eyes were wide, his cigarette falling from his open mouth as he took in the figure sitting on the steps in the Terminal. He forced his shaking legs to move, one in front of the other, sinking down onto his knees once he is in front of the man, staring up into his peaceful face.

He looked as if he were sleeping, a small smile gracing his lips, looking for all the world as if a huge weight had been lifted. Hijikata reached up shakily and cupped his cheek with one hand, wiping the blood away from the side of his mouth. 

Gintoki’s body fell forward, Hijikata catching him and placing him carefully on the ground, making sure to not move the bokken protruding from his stomach.

“Gintoki?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper, hoping that maybe, just maybe, this stupid perm-head was just playing a horrible prank on him and that he would open his eyes any second.

They don’t.

His search is over, and in an ideal world, it would have made the world seem so much brighter to find Gintoki and actually see him and his stupid smile again. 

Instead, it made the world seem so much worse, and at that moment, Hijikata wished that his search would have never ended. Then, maybe, there would still be that sliver of hope that gave him the motivation to keep on going. But now, Gintoki was right in front of him, and his heart was not beating.

Hijikata wanted to scream. He wanted to yell and punch someone and just do  _something_  to release these horrible emotions building up inside of him, but he couldn’t. Instead, he carefully picked up Gintoki’s bloody body and began walking, his body on autopilot.

“Hey, Gintoki, we’ll just go home now, okay? Everything will be fine.”

But nothing would be fine anymore, and he knew that. He gripped the red cloth of Gintoki’s clothes, and he knew that the Enmi had been Gintoki, and that the White Plague had been because of Gintoki, but he still couldn’t help but wonder why  _Gintoki_ had to be the one to die, why  _Gintoki_ had to be the one to suffer so much.

And suddenly, he is standing in front of the Shinsengumi barracks, feeling as empty as his arms are, although they are held up as if he had been carrying someone before. The skies are bright blue, and Edo is the same as usual, but for some reason, he can’t help but feel like everything looks grayer than usual.

* * *

 “ _But, you know, no amount of time can erase the scars.”_  



End file.
